Canal boat residents stranded for days after toxic chemical spillage

An elderly couple living on a narrowboat have been stranded for days following a toxic chemical spillage in a canal in the West Midlands.

Walsall Council said the Environment Agency was testing the canal for sodium cyanide and other toxic chemicals after a major incident was declared on Tuesday.

The council warned that there is a potential risk to anyone who has direct contact with the water in the affected area from Walsall towards Rushall, Ryders Green and Perry Barr.

It is asking people to avoid these areas of the 12-mile stretch of canal and towpaths.

Bruce and Lauris Crook, 72 and 70, originally from New Zealand , have been unable to pass through the locks on the canal in Rushall, Walsall, since Monday while water testing takes place.

Mr Crook told the PA news agency: “They want the water to stay as undisturbed as possible. As a first step it seems they want everything to stay still.

“The locks were closed because of repairs required, but by Monday afternoon, it was a wider stoppage. So we can’t move.

“We registered with the Canal and River Trust as an interested party and they’ll let us know when they’re happy that the boats start moving again.”

Mrs Crook added: “When we came into this system, the system had been blocked off.”

They have not been told to vacate their canal boat by the Canal and River Trust or Walsall Council.

Dr Jonathan Paul, senior lecturer in Geosciences at Royal Holloway, University of London, said spillages like this are a “cause for concern” and “present a major ecosystem hazard”.

He said: “The greatest risk for people would be encountering the toxic canal water, for instance via touch.

“Ingestion of water containing a sufficiently high concentration of sodium cyanide can result in classic poisoning symptoms, i.e. nausea, weakness, aches, and potentially a loss of consciousness – but that is entirely dependent on how much is ingested and the concentration of the chemical.”

The council said that multiple agencies including West Midlands Police and Fire services, the Canal and Rivers Trust, Severn Trent Water , Walsall and Sandwell councils and the Environment Agency are responding to the incident.